


kiss of death ;

by diamondgore



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Death, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 13:25:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18121547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamondgore/pseuds/diamondgore
Summary: Rize Kamishrio always lived life at its limit.





	kiss of death ;

**Author's Note:**

> This was part of the Tokyo Ghoul Reverse Big Bang!! I had a lot of fun writing it! 
> 
> Check out the [beautiful art piece by ](https://sketchyatbest.tumblr.com/post/183476727144/even-wolves-bleed-like-sheep-my-piece-for-the)sketchyatbest that was done with this<3!

Rize Kamishiro is dying, yes  _ dying _ . Not dead, not alive, but in the comatose state in between the two. She is not aware of what is happening around her, beside her, everything is somewhat stuck in this state of haziness. It is boring, but she is out of her mind. 

 

Her life is jars of fluid, suspended and fully barren, on display for everyone to see. There is no privacy for Rize, her life, her body her--everything is out there for anyone to see with no respect. People will gawk at her, and treat her like an animal in an enclosure, with her eyes fully open, but suspended in non-animation. 

 

Rize is a prize, she is not a person. She is something to be won and studied and strutted off like a trophy.  She does not have an opinion on it, she  _ cannot _ . Her death is waiting to die. She is supposed to someone beautiful, and she is beautiful as she exists in nothing but a mixture of saline & formaldehyde . She cannot think about the future, about a time when she could either leave this container or leave this world. 

 

Her eyes blink. Well, she thinks she blinks, it is impossible to know what was going on in this world around her. She could see a few things, but none of them are clear, and they are all fuzzy little objects that she would much rather ignore. If she could, she would frown at how boring her surroundings are and how she would rather be out on the streets of Tokyo looking for her next meal. But unfortunately, that was something that would be impossible to do, as she could feel her body decay, her muscles in particular were becoming more and more useless. They weren’t being used, there was an electric pulse that passed through her every now and again, it was to keep her alive she supposes. There was no other reason. 

 

Ah, they were hoisting her outside of the liquid filled container, outside of her crystalline hold she had gotten too used to it, as oxygen feels like fire on the tip of her lips. Her body is cold, or is this cold? Sensations that were not the liquid surrounding her body were odd, and unknown. She isn’t happy, as someone, was that a doctor? She couldn’t tell but he stuck his gloved hands in her mouth, if she could choke she would, but she was too sedated to fight back and bite the hands that fed her. She couldn’t chew so she was fed with a paste. 

 

They didn’t want her to die of course, that would just be so cruel. Rize needs to be alive for everything to fall in place. She is what would free ghoulkind. She had already put everything into motion, although a little bit accidentally. Her existence since her childhood was odd, she was always something of a rebel, something that everyone was trying to supress. But Rize Kamishiro had always wanted more than what the world was offering her. 

 

That was why as a child, she was all too ready to escape the small life that she had been offered. 

 

*

 

To say life in the Sunlight Gardens was hard, would be misleading. It was easy, and some would even consider it luxurious considering how hard life was on the streets of major cities in Japan, like Tokyo and Osaka. However, it was incredibly boring in the long run. There were kids in the garden that were bred and built to be soldiers and investigators , but many were actually just used for breeding, to build a stronger line of succession. Due to the fact that Rize was a girl, and due to her beauty, she was going to be used for breeding. 

 

Rize had managed to act dumb and coy her entire life, this sort of idiotic girl, that didn't want to do anything for herself. But she knew from a very young age that her beauty was something that could be used to manipulate those around her into doing what she wanted. It was something that she wasn’t sure of it, part of her wanted it to not be true, the fact that she had an advantage due to her beauty and not due to her strengths. For the longest time she had pushed it to the side of her mind, not wanting to dwell on that. It made her uncomfortable, the fact that she was always going to be seen differently from her peers.

 

 Until it was confirmed one night in an intimate setting between her and her mother. Or at least this was the person she was told birthed her. The concept of parents was something that was unknown and somewhat forbidden to discuss. They all knew where their lineage came from, they knew who they were, but the concept of who mothers and fathers were all but things of the past. 

 

Her mother’s name was Akane. A fitting name for her deep scarlet eyes, which shone like rubies in the dark of the night. Rize had the same eyes, and that was how they knew she was related to her. Rize had also memorized Akane’s scent, something all ghoul children had managed to do without knowing, it was mostly instinct, like how human children knew the sounds of their mothers before they were born. 

 

Akane had sat Rize down in one of the rooms in the gardens. It had broad windows that were covered with a thin white curtain that barely filtered the light coming in from the gardens. There was an view of the vast grass outside, and the spider lilies that had grown so close to the windows. No one knew where they had came from. They had simply appeared one day, the day after Rize was born. They had bloomed beautifully and they had never went away, even after vigorous attempts of pulling them out and salting the ground. 

 

They only grew out of Akane’s window however, no one could be sure if it was a reminder that she had birthed Rize, or an omen of Rize. She was not like the other girls in the garden. Since childhood Rize was much more manipulative. Rize had managed to turn those around her against each other, and it was mostly due to her boredom. She had also caused some of the boys to only survive on scraps of human meat because she was just starving all the time. 

 

Akane had also given her more flesh to eat. She was the only mother that was somewhat affectionate to her children, and it was because Rize was her only daughter. Akane would even feed Rize her own flesh if she was still starved. She loved Rize so deeply, and Rize knew it, but there was no way for the affection to be returned as long as they both only existed in the gardens. 

 

In the cool air of the night, Rize’s hair was brushed by Akane’s thin hands, with a comb with edged trimmed with gold. From the looks of it, it was heavy and it was very expensive. Rize had often wondered how much it had cost, and how much she could sell it for. If Rize should ever try to escape she would take it with her and sell it, as a way to start up her life in the city, whatever city it might be. Rize always wanted to escape. 

 

Akane hummed a song that Rize didn’t know. Rize didn’t care enough to ask about pop-culture outside the books she had managed to get. The tune was pleasant and soft. But everything about Akane was soft, but she was a prototype, unlike Rize who was the improved version of her. Whether it was a genetic cause or if Rize was raised differently did not matter, what had mattered was that she was better. 

 

“Rize, I have something to tell you.” She said, working on a tangle on Rize’s beautiful violet hair. 

 

“What is it, Mama?” Rize stared at the plain wall as she sat on her knees. She wished there was something painted on the plain white wall, but that would be a little too much to ask from her caretakers. They had only put minimum effort in the upkeep of the garden facilities. 

 

“You are very beautiful.” She ran her fingers through Rize’s long hair. 

 

“I am aware. Even for my age, I have seen how people look at me.”

 

“You are a girl, it is only fair that they treat you differently. But you can use this to your own benefit. Whenever possible, use them. For they will try to use you. All the men in your life will, that is something you will learn when you leave.” 

 

Rize kept staring at the wall. So there was an opportunity for her to leave at some point in her life, it was just a matter of when. She had heard through the thin walls that they wanted to keep her in here, like they did with Akane, only the met would be allowed to the outside world, to lead the CCG. But it was apparent that there was another plan for Rize. 

 

“When?”

 

“When the time comes, you will leave.” Akane said in a hushed tone. She wanted no one to hear her, it would be the end of both of their futures. “And I will help you. Do you understand?” 

 

There was no other answer but, “ _ Yes _ .”

 

*

 

It was a warm summer day a few years later. Rize Kamishiro was no longer a child. She had lost her playful edge for something that could draw blood. She was all edges and spikes and knives. It was something that she had developed instead of a thick skin. She was born with that, the thick skin, a gift from her mother, but it did not push anyone away from her. Among men, she was still approachable, and something that could be owned, she had to make them bleed to push them away, to keep them scared and in their place. 

 

Akane had taught her to hate the men around her. They were not trustworthy. She was not some object. She was not a test subject that they could examine and prode and poke at. 

 

Rize had forced herself to belong completely and only to herself. It was not as lonely as she had previously thought, she had thought that putting herself and her needs before anyone else's would destroy her when she was a child. But it was quickly brought to her attention, that everyone here had worshipped her, because she was of the main washuu line, and because she was the only girl of her generation, so there was no need to grovel for shallow attention. Everyone just loved her. 

 

There was one man who had loved her the most though, and it was not her father, that man did not care for her. It was her brother, and he was near obsessed with her. His loved her, and Rize found it rather disgusting but she had never commented on it. She knew that a man’s obsession could be put into good use, and Furuta’s obsession could only push her forward in life. 

 

Furuta had always been a little odd. Rize knew it was because he was a Demi-Human, not a ghoul like her. He was weak and would die eventually. He would die a painful and slow death like his mother. He had the same large round eyes his mother had, only they were filled malice. 

 

When she had told her mother about Furuta, she was near elated. Akane had never liked him too much either, but he was definitely Rize’s ticket outside of this gated community. It had taken longer than she would have liked, but she had eventually managed to get Furuta to help her escape, due to his deep love for her. 

 

She never had once thought about how he might react when she left him behind. 

 

Preparing for her escape was the easiest thing she had ever done. Her mother had prepared her with everything. Enough money for a month at a hotel, a fresh pair of clothing, and a pair of beautiful shoes. Rize couldn’t ask for anything more, but she was greedy, so she had decided to ask for the beautiful comb her mother once brushed her hair with. Akane never questioned her, and have it to her with a kiss on her forehead. 

 

Akane couldn’t have been more proud of her daughter. 

 

Rize had packed everything into a small neat bag that she could hide if needed. It was made from cotton, and everything was arranged in a way that she could use it as a pillow if needed. She was prepared for almost everything that could happen. This moment was the one they were waiting for for their entire life. 

 

She thanked whatever was watching over her for the idiocy of boys, as she approached Furuta for what she had hoped would be the last time. He stood by the gates, with viscera and blood covering him. He had killed guards, and caretakers for Rize. That was so sweet, it almost made her feel bad that she could care less for him. 

 

“Are you ready?” He asked her, smiling. He was so excited to start his new life with her. She would be his wife someday. They would have beautiful children. 

 

“Of course I am, but what about you?” She smiled, as she watched him unlock the metal gate in front of her. 

 

She was almost ashamed of what she was about to do. It was something so mean for someone that could've been so wonderful. 

 

Once he had unlocked the door for her, she unleashed her kagune. Four bright red tentacles that were ready to attack. She used two of them to push him through one of  the walls. He was knocked out almost immediately. Unlike her, his kagune had not come in yet, even if his healing abilities were great, Furuta would not have enough time from when he regained consciousness to when guards that Rize called to capture him. 

 

She stepped out of the gate, retracting her kagune and running as fast as she could. She would never look back at this day again. She would never think about this hell again, the only thing she wanted to remember was her mother. She would finally be free from the claws of Washuu. She would pick a new name in the morning once she had stopped running. 

 

Cruelty was a weapon, she learned, that was just as great as beauty.

 

*

 

Her first night out by herself was not hard, however it was definitely different than what she was used to. 

 

She had spent her first night in a Inn. At least that’s what people called it. She had chosen one in the 20th Ward. She had heard that it was filled with ghouls, and that was why it was cheap. 

 

The owner had warned her that there were ghouls lurking outside. He had a solemn look on his face when he said that the CCG came here often, but Rize did not have enough interaction with the outside world to understand his expression. She frowned as well and told him it was a shame that the CCG had flooded this area.

 

Her escape would possibly make it overflow with more members of the CCG, looking to find her, find her and take her back. 

 

The owner had smiled at her gently after she had told him it was a shame that the area was under scrutiny due to the ghoul problem, and then he had led her to the room she paid for completely in cash. 

 

She had paid a two week advance and decided to free her mind of worry. She wouldn’t be staying here for too long she decided. It was only temporary.

 

She followed her mother’s instructions. Akane had written everything down in neat kanji, in a paper that she kept in her pocket. It had everything that she needed to do in order to keep a successful life. It was simple enough, she had thought to herself. She would get a job, and then get an apartment. Something small until she could get a college education. 

 

Rize wasn’t sure how she would do that. There was nothing past the paragraphed bullet points that she was given. She’d have to figure it out eventually.

She looked at herself in the small mirror in the shared bathroom of the hotel, after undressing herself. She still looked so young, and she was still fresh eyed even after her escape. She wondered how much sleep she could get in before she would see the sun again. She traced her face with her fingers, her nails now broken due to how rough her escape was. 

 

First she would need a shower, everything else would eventually fall into place. She turned on the shower and stepped inside, letting the lukewarm water clean her skin, making sure she was free of blood and viscera. The first thing that was on her mind was food. She was not hungry, as she had eaten prior to her escape, but it was on her mind. An odd hunger to consume even more. 

 

That was for another time.

 

*

 

Her time in the Inn had ended in the same quickness that it started. It had ended with someone else’s jugular in between her teeth. The owner had caught her with blood on her lips like a wolf on a hunt, and Rize grabbed her items and ran as far as she could from the Inn. 

 

The first night, she spent in the park. Rize watched people who did their nightly runs, and walked their Pomeranian dogs pass in front of her while she lied in the grass. 

 

Usually Rize would hate the idea of grass, but this was a safe space to stay. She had to think logically, as she had blown her cover and had nowhere else to go. She was not able to secure a job out of some odd dog walking and babysitting jobs in the neighborhood. No one wanted to hire a sixteen year old girl who never went to school. 

 

She spent a week in limbo. Tokyo was an odd mess of cultures and pop culture. She felt like she was being bombarded with bright lights and information wherever she went. There was nothing she was familiar with in the city, but hey, it wouldn’t kill her to try new things. 

 

She had filed for a library card the second day in, and began spending time in the libraries for safety in the morning, and roamed the city weary of other ghouls at night. Rize was incredibly strong, but the fact that she hadn’t eaten in a long time made her weak. She did not know if she could put up against someone during a fight. 

 

On her eight day, Rize found salvation in a man that called himself Kamishiro. He was a tall, muscular man. Rize did not know if she would consider him handsome, but he was certainly a safe enough man to go home with. 

 

He found her over a dead man’s body, exhausted and her clothing stained in blood. If anyone else had found her they would not have felt sorry for her, but Kamishiro did. Despite his mean looking appearance he was kind. He had decided to take care of her. 

 

He took her home that night, with the rest of the body. She hadn’t eaten when she was found, but Kamishiro made sure she was well fed that night and Rize was extremely grateful for him.  Rize was always glad that he had found her and raised her. But just like everything in her life this was some temporary phase until she was able to stand on her own two feet. 

 

Kamishiro took care of her the same way a father would. He had money that allowed him to live within the humans, in apartment that was big enough for the both of them. He had allowed her to hunt in the sixth ward, and even upwards, up towards the tenth ward. She had gotten into many fights with the other locals ghouls, he wanted her to become stronger. 

 

Around Rize, he even showed a softer side. He wanted to show her love, so he had also doubled as her mother. He combed her hair with the comb that she carried around with her, and everytime he did, her mind would think of the mother she had left behind. Was she still okay? Had she died like Furuta’s mother? There was no way of knowing, but she loved the comfort of memory. 

 

At first it was okay, but then Kamishiro had began to get angry with her and the way that she acted without any regard to anyone else.  

 

That day had some sooner than she had expected, and it almost felt sad that she couldn’t stay longer with him. Their relationship was fragile from the day they had met, growing even tenser once Rize had learned to hunt on her own but it snapped like a rubber band on the night of her nineteenth birthday. 

 

There was an attack on the sixth ward, and it was Rize’s fault. But Kamishiro had let her escape, he couldn’t stand the idea of his own daughter being caught. Rize fled the scene and sixth ward. She wondered when she was leaving if Kamishiro would ever forgive her, or if she would ever meet him again, but that was just a fleeting thought at the back of her mind. 

 

She would find a home like him again.   

 

*

 

The way that Rize and Tsukiyama Shuu had met was romantic. To Rize it was a breath of fresh air, the way that a miscalculation on her part caused her to run into the one and only Gourmet. She was hungry, and she could not think straight, she simply wanted the taste of flesh between her teeth. The warmth of human skin in her mouth, a heart in her hand. 

 

Shuu had managed to ruin her hunt.  Her first meeting with him was distracting, as she was caught between his teeth, ear torn off. He didn’t swallow but instead he spit out her ear and went back to attack her. He tore the skin off her face first, and then used his shiny red kagune to stab her through the shoulder.

 

Shuu was a very efficient hunter, but he obviously did not want her dead. 

 

He was quite sensitive about who could hunt in his territory, most ghouls had fought quite cleanly, even though they were weak, but Shuu had snuck up on her, and tore her face to bits. She was not expecting it, but that night as she was lying on the floor in the cold and damp alleyway, waiting for her face to heal, she had realized, this was true admiration had felt like. 

 

He stood over her, his predatory grin spread on his face. That smile was pride, it was not the same as the ones that most men wore. However, he was more than willing to help her up once she had healed fully. Apparently ugly women, ugly people in general, were not in his agenda. He was not going to attack her. He seemed excited that she had put up some sort of fight against him. 

 

“Kamishiro, correct?” Shuu had asked. “I’ve seen you before in the Anteiku.” His voice was was awfully polite. But it did not fool Rize one little bit. She had used that tone before. 

 

“I don’t think I’ve heard of you before.” Rize replies, flashing her teeth. “You don’t ring a bell.” 

 

She had to knock him down a peg. Shuu was someone who had built himself up on false confidence. He was hollow on the inside otherwise. Rize could see right through him, and that pride. He still had that faux smile on his face, which meant he was on her level. She would not be able to manipulate him as efficiently as she had other people. 

 

But perhaps she would not need anything from him. 

 

*

 

Their relationship was intense, passionate and almost romantic. Neither Shuu or Rize wanted the hassle of a romantic relationship, but they were both desperate for intimacy. He was not her first kiss, nor her first sexual partner, but he was the only one that counted. Unlike everyone else, Shuu had not given her everything on a platter, she instead had to work for it. That, in itself, was enticing enough to make her stay.

 

For as obsessive and as odd as he was, Shuu had treated Rize like no other man before him. He paid rent for her quaint little apartment in the city, and he bought her new clothes and taught her about all the best places to hunt. She was only a little bit younger than him, but he treated her like his equal. He wanted to share his life with another ghoul. But a ghoul of both his class and his age. 

 

 For Shuu, nothing would be too insane. He would give her everything she needed. So, when she asked him to forge some documents for her so that she would be able to go to college, he agreed. She woke up the next morning with him getting dressed, and placing a thick envelope next to her. He had even gave her an ID card with her chosen name, Kamishiro Rize, instead of her birth name.  

 

When Rize tore open the envelope, a feeling of freedom had washed over her. She was finally free from only existing as a ghoul. She was allowed to be a member of society like Shuu, and like all the other ghouls that Shuu had introduced her too. This was a privilege not many people had, and Rize knew it. She kissed him on the cheek softly when she was done looking through the envelope.  

 

He told her he’d help her with college applications when he was free again, but he never did. This was not due to him being hateful or bitter, or anything of that sort. It was because Rize had decided to decline his invitation to be part of the Gourmet club.

 

It was a shame since she really enjoyed Shuu and the company that he had given her. But all good things had to come to an end, especially when they were this luxurious. 

 

But she had left him with a thanks, even though it was worth a penny to a man like Shuu. She left him her golden comb. He would be a better home for it, he loved shiny things and this was the least she could for the six months that they had lived together, and the passion that he made her feel on an almost daily basis. 

 

She would really miss his company. 

 

*

 

Rize  moved out of her apartment in the 10th ward and began living again in the 6th ward. She could now afford a small apartment with some government aid. Rize loved living by herself, and this would be her first taste of true freedom. She was paying for everything out of pocket, and she had created a beautiful existence for herself. 

 

She was her own boss, and all the trouble she got into because of it was worth it. Rize loved the thrill of danger and adventure. She had loved the hunt. It was something that would surely get her into trouble, but she didn’t know just how much trouble. 

 

When she and Kaneki Ken had crossed paths, Rize had thought their meeting would just end in a big meal on her part. That Ken would just be another body count to her teenage angst. Their meeting was not as small as she thought it would be. No one knew how much it would change get life. 

 

Her past still followed her, lurking in the shadows of her life. Lurking in the back, trying to get her back. But Rize pushed that paranoia away to the back of her head. It had no room in her life at all. 

 

For a moment, as she had him speared like a shishkebab on her kagune, she thought about just how great life was. Everything from the moment she had ran away had lead up to this, with Ken’s blood dripping on her lips as he was begging her to not swallow. 

 

Then from the corner of her eye, she saw the steel beams falling rapidly on top of her crushing both her and poor Ken. Her past, and the way she had escaped consequences had finally caught up to her. Karma had dished out what she deserved from skipping out on all the punishment, from trying to force herself outside the norm. 

 

_ Oh what a great life I had _ , she mused, her body singing about the pain it felt in forty different languages. She closed her eyes, and did not even try to fight back, there was no reason to stay alive. If someone would find her, surly they’d report her to the CCG. 

 

She just wished it had actually ended there.

 

*

 

So Rize’s body is still alive, and it feels like it is on fire. Her consciousness is screaming for it's escape.  She can feel hands on her body, and it is everything but comfortable. She couldn’t escape it even if she tried her best to. She could not end her own life, because she had no control over her surroundings or even herself. The last time she had felt anything that wasn’t the warmth of saline was when Renji Yomo had saved her for a few moments, and that was her own personal hell. Everything is so painful, but it is the only memory that played through her head. 

 

She knows she is not in her saline prison any more, but that doesn’t matter, what matters is the fact is that death is on her horizon. She may have been blind and cold, but she smell something that only bought death. The scent of rot and the scent of decay. It was familiar-- it is the scent of the man whose paths she was tangled with in the most unfortunate manner. 

 

The air is so damn vile, and Rize feels herself choking on the vapors of the dragon. 

 

He is going to be the death of her, and with a swift moment of his kagune he takes her life. She could still hear him talk after her death, but she wasn’t sure what he was saying. The ears are the last lifeline to the mortal world, but it was too bad she couldn’t decipher it. 

 

Rize  _ hoped _ it was something sweet at least. 


End file.
